This profile originally appeared in our April, 2023 newsletter. The Waites are a two generation Father and Three Son family. Bruce Waite originally played as a son and then later played as a father with his three sons.
As a son Bruce played with his father and two brothers starting in 1968. Twenty years later Bruce started playing with his three sons.
Here is the profile as it appeared in our news letter:
WAITE Family FATS Profile:
The Waite family joined this event in 1968, with Jack and sons Jim, Bruce and John and hosted the event twice at the St. Thomas G&CC. Other families from St. Thomas – Bristows, Gilberts, Herberts – also played for many years. A highlight was winning the Low Gross trophy, besting the perennial winners – Jack Nash and sons from London – by one stroke. Twenty years later, son Bruce entered his own team and Jack, Jim and John continued to play for many years, adding grandson Chris, winning the Low Net trophy one time. Jack’s last year was 2000 and he died at 88 the next spring. Bruce, with his sons John, Jeff and James has played continuously with 2023 being their 35th year.
Comments from the sons:
Son #1: John
One of my favourite things about FATS is having people tell me how much they’ve enjoyed their day with one of my brothers or my Dad. I usually reply, “I think you may have mistaken me for a Sketchley or a Lauer”, but it’s surprising how often they actually did mean a Waite. I remember hearing about FATS as a kid, and know that my Dad won Low Gross Family as a SON when I was just 3 years old (I may have actually caddied for him that year and, if I in fact did, it still stands as the high point in my own FATS career). But in the 30+ years I’ve been playing, I’ve made many great friends while playing many bad rounds and created awesome memories including some best forgotten. In addition to the countless wonderful families we’ve met, the opportunity to play and eat and drink and laugh with my Grandfather Jack, my uncles, Dad, brothers and cousins has been an incredible blessing in my life. Long Live FATS! And we plan to be there for many more
Son #2: Jeff
My brothers and I have made our Dad proud for 7 years at the Father and Three Sons (not consecutive), with 2023 being our 35th year in the tournament. As all middle sons know, if we want attention, we better be good at golf. And if you can’t be that, just don’t be the one to flip a cart. This tournament is the one “absolute” in the family calendar. We always know what we are doing on the third Friday in August. The only question is who’s buying the shirts?
Son #3: James
My first memory of the Father and 3 Sons Golf Classic was being a “caddy” for my dad when I was 8 years old. He was the second son of three, playing with father Tyler and brothers Jim and John. It was wonderful to experience the tournament as a non-player since from the beginning I have known that this annual event is truly “not about golf…it’s about family”…and friendships; laughter; pageantry; celebration. That appreciation made it much easier for me – a non-golfer – to join the tournament at 15. At times over the ensuing 35 years, my brothers and I have travelled from both coasts, postponed family trips and vetoed proposed wedding dates in honour of the FATS tradition. I handled website and archival duties from 2007-2022, which gave me a deeper awareness of the tournament’s rich history and importance to families old and new alike. It is truly a tradition unlike any other.
I have had the pleasure of playing with Bruce multiple times during our 21 years at FATS. Always gracious, Bruce made me feel incredibly welcome every time I saw him. Along with being great to play with, Bruce often shared stories of past FATS events where I learned the history of the event. Of course, James was the driving force behind our website for many years. Having worked on the new website I now truly appreciate how much work this is (and I have more support from our web developer than James ever did!).